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Manila Bulletin devider Sports devider Eala, Venus Williams make winning doubles debut at Bad Homburg Open

Eala, Venus Williams make winning doubles debut at Bad Homburg Open

Published Jun 24, 2026 11:35 pm

At A Glance

  • The highly anticipated tandem, which paired the 21-year-old Eala with one of her childhood idols, wasted little time finding its rhythm and chemistry despite persistent attempts from their rivals in the second set to advance to the quarterfinals of this WTA 500 event.
Venus Williams, left, and Alex Eala. (Bad Homburg Open)
Venus Williams, left, and Alex Eala. (Bad Homburg Open)
Alex Eala and tennis icon Venus Williams debuted their partnership in style after drubbing Alexandra Osborne and Catherine Harrison, 6-3, 6-4, to jumpstart their doubles campaign at the Bad Homburg Open in Germany early Thursday, June 25 (Philippine time).
The highly anticipated tandem, which paired the 21-year-old Eala with one of her childhood idols, wasted little time finding its rhythm and chemistry despite persistent attempts from their rivals in the second set to advance to the quarterfinals of this WTA 500 event.
The victory set up Eala and Williams, a many-time Grand Slam singles and doubles champion, a meeting with second seed Tereza Mihalikova and Olivia Nicholls, who routed Jiang Xinyu and Xu Yifan, 6-2, 6-3, last Sunday, June 21.
Eala and Williams, 46, set the tone early as they cruised to a 4-0 lead in the first set. Osborne and Harrison managed to cut the deficit to 5-2, but the Filipina-American duo stayed in control and closed out the set by taking the ninth game.
Osborne and Harrison mounted a stronger challenge in the second set by grabbing a 3-2 advantage, but Eala and Williams quickly regained their footing, leveling the score at 3-all before reeling off the crucial games needed to complete the straight-set victory.

Related Tags

Alex Eala Venus Williams Bad Homburg Open WTA Wimbledon
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